Most Important Bulldogs: No. 16 Preston Smith

Football season kicks off less than a month. The Southeastern Conference's football media days begin on Monday.

In preparation for the 2014 season, we'll be counting down the 25 Most Important Bulldogs heading into the fall. Each day we'll reveal another player leading up to practices in August.

The key to the list is its ranked by importance, not necessarily by talent, skill or statistics. Any list is going to cause debate, so feel free to comment and discuss it here or on Twitter.

No. 16 Preston Smith

Position: Defensive End

Height, weight: 6-6, 267

Year: Sr.

In 2013: Smith enjoyed the best season of any Mississippi State defensive lineman. He finished with 44 tackles, which were tops at the position. Chris Jones finished with the second most with 32. Smith was second on the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. His nine quarterback hurries also ranked second.

Smith capped of 2013 with a Liberty Bowl-best six tackles. The performance earned him the games defensive MVP.

Offseason: Smith began the spring as MSU's most experienced defensive end. He also owns the most career sacks of any end with the departure of Denico Autry.

He carried his momentum from the Liberty Bowl into spring workouts. He led all defensive lineman with four "Got the Ball" awards. Only safeties Justin Cox and Kivon Coman earned it more overall(5).

That said, Smith's role didn't change at all during the spring. He entered it as the starting defensive end and left it the same.

In 2014: Smith is poised for a breakout season in his final year at Mississippi State. The Liberty Bowl could be just a preview of what he and tackle Chris Jones can accomplish when lined up next to each other. The defensive end saw his tackles for loss increase by one and his sack decrease by two from his sophomore to junior seasons. Smith should see career-highs in every statistic when teamed up with Jones.